WINNING LOTTERY TICKET IN ARDENWOOD

Five Bay Area lottery tickets pay $227,955 prize
By Chris De Benedetti, Tracy Seipel and Troy Wolverton
San Jose Mercury News
contracostatimes.com

It was close, but no cigar for 29 people -- including five in the Bay Area -- who bought tickets that matched five of six numbers in Friday night's Mega Millions draw. But coming so agonizingly close to being a multimillionaire probably never felt so good:

Each of the 29 will receive $227,955.

"We have been given so many blessings, I don't have enough room to contain it," said Amalia Walia, co-owner of Fast & Easy Mart, a store in Fremont's Ardenwood neighborhood that sold one of the winning five-match tickets. "I believe that the window to heaven has been opened up for this business."

Walia, a 48-year-old mother of three, and her husband, Prit, will get a half-percent cut of the winnings -- about $1,140.

The couple didn't yet know which of their customers had won.

In fact, none of the statewide winners had contacted lottery officials as of late Saturday, but that could change as the weekend goes on, said Russ Lopez, a California Lottery spokesman.

"Winners usually don't come forward right away," Lopez said. "They will wait for weeks sometimes. Sometimes they need to talk to their family or want to get mentally prepared for coming into some money they never had before."

But one woman who bought a five-match winner Friday evening at a 7-Eleven in San Jose didn't wait long to verify her ticket.

She returned about 9:40 a.m. Saturday to the store on Blossom Hill Road to check its accuracy by placing it through a machine, said Balkar Singh, the store manager. The woman, who did not reveal her name, was one of about 1,000 customers who spent $12,000 on lottery tickets at the store on Friday, he said.

"She said, 'I think I'm a winner,' " Singh said, warning her to keep the ticket a secret because he didn't want her to be put in danger.

"She said she realized she should be careful and shouldn't attract attention because someone could take advantage of that," Singh said. "I'm happy for her. Maybe there will be more players here because this is a lucky place."

Liquor, Tobacco and More -- a Sunnyvale store that also sold one of the five-match winners -- was so busy Friday that instead of just one employee working the counter, the shop had three, including owner Hany Selim, 55.

Selim said his store on South Mary Avenue, which also sells high-end wines, liquor and cigars, has never sold a big winning ticket before.

The store doesn't make a lot of money from selling lottery tickets, said Selim, who works as a medical device engineer. But, he said, lottery sales "bring a whole bunch of people to the shop."

Randy Ackerman, 66, was among those buying lottery tickets Saturday. Ackerman, a former carnival worker who lives with his sister in Sunnyvale, said he doesn't believe any store is luckier than the rest.

"If you're there at the right moment, you're going to win," he said. "I do better at cards when I go to Vegas, but I don't go to Vegas all the time."

Three lucky people in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas matched all six numbers Friday night. They will divide the national Mega Millions jackpot estimated at $640 million.

In California, the "runner-up" winners bought tickets that matched the numbers 46, 23, 38, 4 and 2, missing only the Mega Ball number of 23.

The other Bay Area stores that sold winning five-match tickets are Fox Liquor in San Francisco and Al's Food & Liquor in San Rafael.

Five stores in the Central Valley -- three in Sacramento County, and one each in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties -- also sold winning tickets. The other 19 five-match winning tickets were bought in Southern California.

Winners can receive their cash prize by visiting one of the lottery's nine district offices, or by downloading a claim form at www.calottery.com, Lopez said. Winners must fill out the form and send it by regular mail to state lottery officials.

It takes a minimum of three weeks, and sometimes as long as six weeks, for a cash prize to be claimed, Lopez said.

State lottery officials reported sales totaling about $250 million in the days before the winning Mega Millions jackpot.

Californians spent about $78 million on Friday alone.

And lottery fever doesn't seem to be subsiding.

"We sold $10,000 worth of tickets yesterday and tonight the SuperLotto will pay $17 million," Amalia Walia said. "I expect more people to keep coming."

Eliut Hernandez, a 66-year-old retired engraver, didn't win any big prizes, but on Saturday afternoon the longtime Hayward resident was back at Kavanagh Liquors in San Lorenzo -- dubbed California's "luckiest store" because it has produced four jackpot winners.

Hernandez bought tickets there for several of the state lottery's games: SuperLotto Plus, Fantasy 5, Scratchers and the next round of Mega Millions, which begins Tuesday.

The grandfather of 12 said he would pay for his grandchildren's college educations if he wins.

"You don't win if you don't play," he said. "Go for it."